bdd (06/28/82)
Sunday June 27, I had the opportunity to go to the Toledo Speedway Jam compliments of a local radio station (Q-FM-96, Cols. O.) The jam was an outdoor concert on the infield and surrounding grounds of the speedway. The concert lineup was Donnie Iris, Triumph, Loverboy, and Foreigner. Donnie Iris was the first band to take the stage and did a fine job of getting the approximately 35,000 fans ready for what looked to be a long afternoon of good Rock-n-Roll. He played his more popular songs (Oh Leah, Sweet Merilee, Love is like a Rock, etc) and the crowd was very receptive. Triumph took the stage next and played the best set of any of the bands there. They opened with the title cut from the "Allied Forces" album and didn't slow down from there. They also played 'fight the good fight', ' 'magic power', 'hot time in this city tonite', 'lay it on the line', 'hold on' and a few others. Triumph's stage show wasn't frilly (nor were any others for that matter) but their music was strong, very clean, and well executed. Triumph's sound was much more powerful and clean than any of the other bands had. Loverboy was next and also played a good set. They did mostly the more popular songs from "Loverboy" and "Get Lucky". They were surprisingly entertaining and their execution onstage was precise and professional. They were much better onstage than I had expected and would definitely go see them again if given the chance. Foreigner was the top bill and in my opinion, the biggest dissapointmentof the day. Their sound was poor, distorted and the band itself was poor. Lou Grahams, vocalist for Foreigner, missed lyrics and cues on three or four different songs and the band lacked the "tightness" one would expect to see (or should I say 'hear') in a band of their stature. This wasn't as big a letdown as it could have been, for a friend who had seen foreigner live before, said their live performances lack alot of the drive that is found on their albums. For the most part, I really enjoyed the Jam and had it not been for Foreigner's lack of a good performance, the Speedway Jam could have easily been one of the better concerts I've ever attended. Just as a quick summary, the order of the bands in terms of performance had to be 1. Triumph 2. Loverboy 3. Foreigner 4. Donnie Iris Brian Durnell Bell Labs - CB cbosg!bdd